The Death of ProofBare Witness

Mudd, whose government name is Reginald Moorer, was one of three people that accompanied Deshaun “Proof” Holton to the CCC the night of his death. On the condition of anonymity, Mudd spoke to XXL in the July 2006 issue about what happened that tragic night at the CCC club. The investigation is still ongoing. After several months, Mudd has decided to come forward to tell the entire story about the night that went horribly wrong, resulting in the death of two men, his gun, and the testimony he gave in court this week.

Mudd’s friendship with Proof dates back 15 years to an Osborn High School lunch table. He was a freshman at Osborn when he met Proof, who was a senior at the time. A few years later, Mudd joined a group with Proof and another rapper, Thyme, called 5-Elementz (5ElA). The group gained notoriety around Detroit in the mid ’90s. They all worked at Maurice Malone’s Hip Hop Shop and— with the support of Malone—moved to New York in search of a record deal. Proof ultimately left the group to join Eminem on the road. After a falling out, Proof and Mudd smoothed out their differences in 2004, and the two frequently hung out when Proof was in Detroit. Mudd raps on Proof’s Searching for Jerry Garcia. Here is his story.

What was your relationship with Proof like most recently?
It was like five years of catching up on all the experiences he had been through. It was still the big brother/little brother type relationship. We had a routine: Wild Woody’s on Wednesday, Tuesday was Northern Lites, Mondays we would hang at a titty bar call Jon-Jon's, Saturday was the State Theater. If I wanted to see him or find him, I knew where to go. We would play pool at Bookies.
In the last few months before his death, was there anything different about Proof?
It was different. He was starting to get more focused. He had stopped all the pills and weed smoking. Before, we were deep into metaphysics. Anything that he was doing, he was fully aware of the concepts. Proof [was] not only a very intelligent person, he was very spiritual as well.